Taking to Twitter, Jaitley asked whether the crackdown on the terror module would have been possible without “interception of electronic communications”.

File photo of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Loading...

New Delhi: Using the arrests of 10 members of an ISIS-inspired group made by the NIA on Wednesday, union finance minister Arun Jaitley has justified a recent government order on monitoring of all computers that has led to fears of snooping and invasion of privacy.

Taking to Twitter, Jaitley asked whether the crackdown on the terror module would have been possible without “interception of electronic communications”.

"Well done NIA for cracking the dangerous terrorist module. Would this crackdown of the terrorist module by NIA have been possible without interception of electronic communications?" he asked.

He also took the opportunity to attack the Opposition, which has been demanding the withdrawal of the recent Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notification that authorises investigative agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt information stored in any computer.

"It's only going to prove to over 1 billion Indians what an insecure dictator you really are," Congress president Rahul Gandhi had tweeted.

Slamming the Congress for equating the notification to the George Orwell’s book 1984 and Big Brother, the Union minister said, “Were the maximum intercepts done during the UPA Government? Surely George Orwell was not born in May, 2014.”

He also pinned the order on the UPA government and said it was made under a 2009 rule and the opposition was "making a mountain where even a molehill doesn't exist".

Stating that “National security and sovereignty are paramount,” the minister added, “Life and personal liberty will survive only in a strong democratic nation – not in a terrorist dominated State.”

On Wednesday, 10 people were arrested by the NIA after raids in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The ISIS-inspired group was allegedly planning to attack vital installations and VIPs in the country. Among those on the target were allegedly the RSS headquarters and the Delhi Police headquarters in the national capital.

The NIA said the group was in an “advanced stage of carrying out a series of blasts” across the country. A cleric and an engineering student were allegedly the masterminds.

Catch the biggest newsmakers and the biggest newsbreaks on CNN-News18, the only news destination. Keep watching CNN-News18 at just 50 paise per month. Contact your cable/DTH operator now!